The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Patrick Lencioni)

16082010

Not sure why I missed this one – it has been out there since 2002 – until a friend mentioned it in conversation. Saw a copy at Kinokuniya in Ngee An City (and that is what I call a seriously big bookstore) and read it in a single sitting this weekend. Simple, sane and true. Wonderful book, and I have taken it straight on board.

Except… MBTI? Best profiling tool? We mustn’t confuse ubiquity with quality. Specifically you cannot with confidence synchronise one person’s MBTI outputs against another person’s, so two people who have described themselves in ways that produced very different MBTI profiles might be more similar than you would realise – and vice versa. In trying to diagnose the roots of team dysfunction, this actually matters quite a lot. At best it is a tool for self reflection – and I would argue, deeply flawed even in that context.

Looking for a tool to use in concert with Patrick’s analysis? Talk to a Birkman Consultant. For a simple example (one score among nearly 100 available) see this Article by Dr Birkman http://tinyurl.com/33qv5qs and see how much resonance this has with the 5 Dysfunctions.